Villains
by Chaltab
Summary: A series of one shots about each of Danny's villains. Part One: Spectra, Part Two: Technus, Parth Three: Ember.
1. Spectra

**I know this chapter is really short. **

Villains is a series of one shots about each of Danny's villains that I will tie together in the end. As such, it will probably be my shortest story (wordwise)

**

* * *

Villains Part One  
"Spectra"**

"AAAHH!" Danny Phantom screamed as he dodged away from a massive green energy blast. The beam slammed into a car, which promptly exploded. Danny glared back at his attacker, who was prepping another shot.

Penelope Spectra. The psycho-witch ghost had been in Danny's school once, siphoning the misery of teens to keep her young. He'd fought her again since then, in a hospital of all places. The results of that battle had been... rather high in cholesterol.

But somehow, Spectra had separated that body from her spirit, and was now back to her black on black battle form. "You've lost weight," Danny quipped as he blasted Spectra. She countered with a blast of her own, and the two exploded when they collided.

"I_ will_ have your DNA, Danny," Spectra warned. "It's only a matter of time." He voice was falsely sweet as she taunted him. Danny wondered what use she had for his DNA now, though, that the North Mercy Hospital was finally demolished, all her equipment along with it.

A ball of black power exploded from Spectra's hands, and Danny had to get on the move again. Danny dodged to the side, knowing that the fire hydrant he was sitting in front of would get blasted. But when there was no loud 'pop' and no blasting water, Danny got concerned, and turned around.

He immediately wished he hadn't, as the black ball was coming back at him.

"Aaah!" Danny screamed again, dodging down. The ball flew over his head, but reversed directions and headed for him again. A homing attack... Suddenly, a familiar laser beam blasted it out of the sky... And, though relieved the attack was destroyed, Danny panicked.

_No, not Mom! _If Maddie Fenton were there, his job got a lot harder. His arm was already stinging, and he doubted he could move away in time.

Danny rolled over, expecting to stare into the barrel of one of his mother's anti-ghost weapons. So he was surprised when he looked up and saw the familiar face of his sister. "Jazz...?"

"I saw you fighting, and I couldn't let my brother get wasted. Not after that psycho psychiatrist put my head in a jar full of... me!"

Danny knew the given selfish motive of revenge was more ruse than anything, and he smiled. "Thanks."

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted when a green tiger jumped on Jazz and raised its paws to maul her...

"Bertrand!" Danny barked. He blasted off, slamming his shoulder into the beast, even as Jazz threw him the laser lipstick.

Danny blasted the green Tiger out of the air, forcing Bertrand to transform again...

Right as Jazz wrapped him up in the Jack o'Ninetales. "He's mine," she yelled at Danny. "Get Spectra!"

"Right," Danny nodded, blasting off back towards Spectra, who seemed to be doing something to the ground near the fire hydrant...

And realized that she was scraping from the ground something green... Blood! Danny's ghost blood! He glanced down at the arm he'd felt hurting earlier and realized that there was a large gash along one side of it. _Gotta be more careful,_ he scolded himself.

"Ah, you're back," Spectra said. "Too bad you're too late to stop me from getting your DNA, eh?" Spectra smiled and backed away, reverting to her human-esque form before vanishing altogether.

"NO! Stop!" Danny looked around, but could find Spectra nowhere, and his ghost sense could only detect the presence of a ghost, not the location. He flew aroudn the block, but as expected, was unable to find Spectra...

"Well, at least we have Bertrand."

At that point, Jazz darted over, waving the Jack o'Ninetales. the _empty_ Jack o'Ninetales.

"Sorry Danny," Jazz called. "'Beast Boy' got away and I couldn't get this thermos to work," Jazz said, shaking the Fenton Thermos. Danny realized it was one he hadn't charged with his powers yet.

"Aw, poop," Danny sighed.

He flew to the ground and detransformed, still not terribly used to Jazz knowing his secret, or, more accurately, knowing that Jazz new. "Spectra got away too, I have no way of finding her. Want to go by the Nasty Burger? I'm starving."

"Sure," Jazz said. "But I expect you to look for her later. You have to be responsible or I'll have to revise my journal."

Danny glanced back at Jazz, wondering about that. He shrugged it off. It was only normal that she'd mention something about it in her journal... Suddenly, something occurred to Danny.

"Hey, Jazz. You have any money? I'm broke."

**oooo**

Somewhere dark.

Somewhere secret.

A figure strode up with a small canister of green ghost blood. "I have it," she said, handing it to another silhouette, this one much larger. The only similarities between them were the massive horns that their shadows implied.

Though in reality they weren't horns at all... but horns would have suited both persons well, considering their dark souls.

"Good job," The man said, "apprentice."

* * *

Yep, that's it for now. If you need a longer Danny Phantom fix, you could always read my other DP stories, To Charm a Ghost and Time Phantom. I'd appreciate all the concrit I can get. 


	2. Technus

**Danny Phantom: Villains**  
Technus

Casper High—indeed the whole town in general—had been quiet for three days, and that was two days too long in Danny's mind. No ghost attacks, no strange happenings. Nothing. Danny was beginning to worry that there would be another attack at any minute.

"What's wrong, Danny?" Sam asked as she matched his stride in the cafeteria, holding her food tray almost on level with his. "You look like you're about to jump out of your skin."

"Nothing," Danny lied. Sam looked at him in a manner that said she obviously wasn't buying it.

"Is it the Valerie thing? Look, Danny," Sam said through gritted teeth, "I know you really liked each other, even though she's tried to kill you 20 times in the last two months but—"

"It's not that," Danny said. "It's that the last two _days_ have been so silent that I can't help but be paranoid of another attack at any minute. My life isn't supposed to be this quiet!"

"You're just imagining things," Sam insisted. "You need to calm down and enjoy the fact there's nobody trying to waste you for once."

Danny shrugged. "I know you're right in my head, but I still can't help myself." The two made it to their customary table and sat down to eat.

"Have you seen Tucker today? He wasn't in geometry."

Sam rolled her eyes and then said disdainfully, "He skipped school today so he could get in at Perfect Purchase in time for the release of the V-Cube Plus."

"That launched today?"

Sam nodded. "I swear, who camps out in front of a store to buy a game system!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at Perfect Purchase, a ghostly figure hovered through the Internet pipelines underneath the building, taking over the security cameras, waiting, watching... 

"SOLD OUT?" Tucker blurted. "But I've been camping out all night! I skipped school for this!"

"Sorry," the clerk answered from behind the counter. "We only got 20 units until Christmas. You'll have to come back later."

And the ghost inside the pipe smiled to himself. "So, the Phantom child's friend has shirked his responsibilities and come to a place full of glorious technology."

Suddenly, the clerk's computer glowed, then the screen began to flash—and suddenly, a figure burst forth, sporting green skin, high-tech armor... and a mullet.

"No!" Tucker gasped.

The ghost looked down at him, and smiled. "Oh, yes, yes indeed. It is I, TECHNUS! Master of All Technology!"

Suddenly, many of the gadgets in the store began floating into the air, glowing with green ghost power. "Such processing power!" exclaimed Technus. "This will be very useful indeed!"

At Technus' whim, a power cord flew out and grabbed Tucker, wrapping him up tight. Tucker struggled to break free but could not. "And you will serve as the perfect bait."

* * *

"So, class," Mr. Lancer asked, "can anybody tell me what themes Mr. Shelley is trying to contrast in his poem?" 

A girl on the far side of the room raised her hand. "He was playing up the irony that the 'works' of Ozymandias were to be what caused despair, but it was ultimately the fact that everything else was destroyed but the works that gives a real reason to despair."

Lancer sighed. "Thank you, Kristen, for that thoughtfully plagiarized answer. Next time, do it with the literary analysis book where I _can't_ see it clearly lying open on your desk, hm?"

Kristen began to blush, and a mummer of laughter ran through the class, just loud enough to obscure the sound of Danny's cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and opened it up, Tucker's face appearing on the small screen. He seemed to be shivering, and Danny's ghost sense immediately went off, the phone glowing green.

"Tucker!" Danny blurted quietly, "What's wrong?"

"T-" Tucker stammered, "Technus! He's holding me and a bunch of others hostage down at Perfect Purchase, you gotta come quick, he's turned the whole building into a techno-fortress!"

Suddenly, a semi-transparent image of Technus' face appeared over Tucker's picture. "That's right, young ghost child," it said quietly. "I have your friend held hostage and—"

Suddenly, a large hairy arm obscured Danny's vision and a hand clasped around his cell phone, snapping it shut and pulling it away.

"Honestly, Daniel," Lancer said, "A call in the middle of class. Do you take me for an idiot?"

"I'm sorry!" Danny blurted, getting out of his chair and literally pushing Lancer to the side. "It's a family emergency, I have to go now!"

* * *

Danny had just up and ran out of the classroom, leaving Sam to stare at the door… _What could have been so important that didn't involve ghosts—or Tucker _and_ ghosts…_

For Sam was certain she had heard Tucker's voice during that brief conversation, as well as another more sinister one…

Suddenly, principal Ishiyama's voice boomed in over the school intercom.

"Attention students, the town is now under high Ghost Alert. Repeat, there is a Ghost Threat Level Orange warning issued for Amity Park. Please turn on your classroom televisions to channel 9 for a news feed…"

Mr. Lancer sighed, and walked over to the TV. He turned it on, and the whole class gasped… A news crew was filming what had once been a simple electronics store. Now it was a massive fortress covered in ghost energy and technology. And Sam knew it could only be the work of Technus…

Suddenly, Valerie leaned over towards Sam, surprising the goth girl. "Hey, Manson," Valerie said, "What was that outburst with Danny all about?"

"None of your business!" Sam snapped instinctively, but then regretted it. "I mean, he said it was some sort of family emergency."

"The whole class heard what he _said,_" Val insisted. "But what did he MEAN?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam lied.

"Connor is in trouble, isn't he," Valerie said.

"His name is Tucker, and yeah, he's in trouble. He was at the store when the ghost attacked, I think…"

Valerie immediately got out of her seat and darted towards the door, also shouting at Mr. Lancer, "Sorry, it's urgent!"

* * *

Sam watched as she ran after him, and started to get up, when Mr. Lancer grabbed her by her shoulder and pushed her back down in her seat. "I don't think so, Ms Manson," he said. "I'm not losing three students to sudden inexplicable emergencies." 

Outside the school, Danny bounded off the top of Mr. Lancer's car and transformed in mid air. "I'M GOING GHOST!" He shouted, blasting off into the sky towards the Perfect Purchase.

And not far behind, Valerie ran too, summoning her armor from within and making her board materialize at her feet. "I'm coming for you, ghosts!" she said, has her glider blazed towards the scene of the ghost attack.

When Danny got to the building, it had been completely remade in Technus' likeness, towering over the landscape covered in technology, a massive screen near the top showing the hostages inside.

"You've gone too far this time, Technus!" Danny shouted. "Let them go!"

"Ah, ah, ah," Technus said, his voice coming from a bank of speakers near the fort's mouth. "First things first. I'll let all the hostages go only if you agree to do something for me."

"What?" Danny demanded.

"Disable the ghost shield inside Fentonworks. Then I will free the hostages trapped within my high-tech and deadly innards."

Danny shot Technus a glare. "What if I refuse?"

"Then I will begin replacing all the hostages brains with computer circuitry!" Technus declared loudly…

"NOT ON MY WATCH, you filthy ghost!" Valerie suddenly swooped in, her laser cubes flying above her head, blasting at Technus' massive form to no effect.

"Silly girl. I gave you that armor—how can you expect to defeat me with it?"

"You? Why would you give me anti-ghost gear?" Valerie asked.

"Because," Danny butted in, "he wanted YOU to stop ME from destroying the satellite he had taken over.

"Danny Phantom," Valerie bit out. "I should have known you'd be here."

"Yeah, I'm here. I sort of protect this town!" Danny yelled at her.

"YOU protect it? You and your stupid dog, ruining people's lives and stealing jewelry."

"I'm here to save the hostages," Danny said. "You're just here because you hate ghosts! And that dog hasn't shown up since he found his chew toy in the kennel where Axion put him down. I had nothing to do with that but trying to catch him!

"The clock is ticking, Children," Technus said. "Who gets their brain replaced first?"

Valerie's eyes went wide with surprise, and Danny knew he'd struck a nerve. "I'll work with you to take this thing down."

"Right," Danny said. "Think of it as a superhero team up."

"I will," Val said. "As soon as I start thinking of _you_ as a superhero, ghost." Her tone of voice made it clear that she did not.

Danny sighed, but decided it was better than nothing. "Any ideas on how to beat this thing?"

"I don't know," Valerie said. "What does it want?"

"Specifically, I don't know. He says he wants me to take down the shield at Fentonworks and he'll start releasing hostages. If we can get them out, he'll have no leverage."

Without another word, Valerie blasted down towards the now guarded doors to the electronics store. The three cubes position themselves in front of her, and formed an energy drill. She blasted through the door and into the building, blowing chunks of Technus' tech-fort away.

Danny followed her, his arms out in an ectoplasmic aura that was half offensive, half defensive, bursting also through the door and into a deadly playground of gadgets and gizmos.

Valerie grunted as she was attacked by some killer computer mice. Her cubes blasted them out of the air before they could get to her, but then Danny was assaulted by some sort of kids' robot toy. Only these were ghost-enhanced and now armed to the teeth with things that looked excessively painful.

Danny blasted it away, but it was able to launch a missile before it blew up, and Danny went intangible to avoid it. The projectile smashed into a column behind Danny, exploding in a brilliant light…

And Danny looked up the column to see _people_ attached to it, wrapped in technology. He formed a ball of ecto-light and looked around to see more columns, each with hostages attached to them, ghost-powered computer circuitry flying dangerously around their heads.

"No!" he yelled, just as a technology-golem that looked similar to the form Technus had taken when he stole all the old junk from Jack's garage. Danny blasted at it at point blank range, shaving some of the gadgets off, but not nearly enough to cripple the monster.

Suddenly, Valerie swooped in and blasted it to pieces with her orbs. "Nobody is wasting you but me," she said, then flew off and began blasting the restraints on the people attached to the columns. Danny flew up and did the same, but to less effect. Then he decided it would be more prudent just to phase the people out by going intangible, and eventually he was able to get five or six to the ground…

But he still had not found Tucker.

Danny blasted towards the center, rescuing all the people he saw, but still no Tucker.

"LOOKING FOR SOMEONE!" Technus' voice came from all around. Then, a high-tech looking machine that looked like the reactor from Return of the Jedi's Death Star lowered from above, lighting up with a horrible ominous rumble…

And there was Tucker in the middle, hooked up to what Danny could only assume was a torture device, and one that was so energized by ghost power that Danny couldn't phase Tucker out of it.

"Let him go!" Danny demanded, blasting towards the device.

* * *

At the same time, Valerie finished taking out some surrounding ghosts with her cubes and turned to fly towards the device as well. And in a way, she felt guilty. She knew she never really liked Tucker, but after he had taken the rap for her the first week she'd gotten her armor, she'd thought it was really sweet—but then she'd dumped him like a heavy burden the first chance she got. Then she has gone steady with Danny Fenton for a while before deciding it was too much trouble to keep a relationship and a secret identity, not to mention her job at the Nasty Burger. 

But she would _never_ let the ghost boy even see a hint of her sentiment. "I'm coming Connor!" she yelled, trying to keep her voice as platonic as possible.

A pair of mechanical arms moved closer to Tucker's head, one with a buzz saw, the other with an overshadowed bundle of computer innards...

"His name's Tucker!" The ghost kid shouted at her angrily, blasting forward and smashing the top of the machine, barely making a dent.

"And how would _you_ know _that_?" Valerie shot back blasting the joints of the arms, causing them to melt. The arms fell away, but they acted like they hadn't noticed the damage...

"Because," the ghost said, "I.. er... knew his great great grandfather when I was... alive.."

"What was his name!" Valerie demanded, not believing his story. It was too convenient, and the ghost kid was starting to seem more familiar to a living person... but not Tucker...

"That's not important!" Danny Phantom shouted back. "Just help me free him!"

Valerie's board hovered around till it was level with Tucker's waist, and she removed a ghost-cutting laser from her belt. "Don't move," she said. "Don't flinch or I'll cut you."

But as she started to cut, a proximity alarm in her new high-tech visor started blaring, and she looked over her shoulder to see a platoon of attacking mechanical soldiers enchanted by this technology ghost.

"I'll handle them," Phantom shouted, blasting towards the nearest, his fists glowing green. "Just keep cutting."

"And let you take all the credit?" Valerie muttered, "No thank you. Cubes, defend," she commanded.

"Dude, that new armor is TIGHT, Val," Tucker said with a big smile, despite being hooked up to a torture device that was supposed to replace his brain with a ghost-computer. "Where did you get that?"

"None of your business," Valerie shot back. "Just hold still and let me cut you loose."

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny and the three cubes continued to blast, bash and generally pummel the attacking soldiers... 

One flew low as if it were going to reverse-dive-bomb Tucker and Valerie, and Danny shot down, and was barely able to get one hand in it's face. He fired a beam through the computer monitor it called a head and then flipped over as the Cubes let loose a volley of lasers that tore through another group of soldiers.

"Say," Danny thought aloud, watching the seemingly random attack patterns of the robots. "This isn't nearly smart enough even for Technus..." Danny few up and destroyed several more soldiers, then looked all around the store.

Everywhere, everything looked like it was on automatic, none of the guiding intelligence—if the mind Nikolai Technus possessed could be called such—he would expect if his mulleted adversary were running things...

"Gray!" he shouted towards Valerie. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost," she said. "Just a little more... and..."

Danny heard the laser deactivate and glanced back to see Tucker fall from the apparatus into her arms.

"Here, I've got him. I can make things fly like me," he said to her.

"No way, ghost. I still don't trust you."

Danny smacked his forehead. "Fine, suit yourself. Listen, I think Technus was using the hostages as a diversion. He's left the building."

"What makes you say that?" Valerie asked.

"This place is running on auto-pilot," Danny said. "If the ghost were here, and had all this tech at his immediate disposal, we'd be dead."

"But why wouldn't he just kill us... unless..." Val's eyes shot wide from within her mask. "He's gone to Fentonworks!"

Danny and Valerie immediately blasted out of the doors again, Valerie letting Tucker off with the rest of the hostages, who were being moved towards the police cordon...

And halfway across the town to Fentonworks they flew, Valerie bursting through the door and down into the basement, Danny phasing through the floor.

It was a mess, but Danny immediately saw that the Portal was still there and active, though the controls had been trashed. After convinced that the ghost wasn't there, Valerie left, muttering something about being late for last period, and Danny felt his gut turn to ice when he realized he would be as well. Finally, Danny realized what had been stolen:

The Fenton Bazooka.

"Oh, man," he said... "What could he have wanted THAT particular technology for?"

* * *

And far away in Wisconsin, the mullet-bearing ghost hovered close to Vlad Plasmius. "Here you are, master," he said. "I did as you instructed, though I fail to see the point in building an ultimate weapon when I could have killed both the ghost child and your huntress in my fortress death-trap." 

"You need not question my instructions," Vlad said. "All will be made clear... eventually." He reached out his hands and took the Fenton Bazooka from Technus.

"In the meantime, take a well-deserved break... _Apprentice_..."


	3. Ember

**Danny Phantom: Villains  
Ember**

"Dear girl," said the shadowed figure. "You have been briefed on your mission by my associates, I trust."

Ember nodded. "They told me what you want, Plasmius. Why you need _me_ to get it, or why you can't build your own, I don't know. But if you can bring back my popularity, I'll do anything."

"Do well, apprentice, and you will have popularity beyond your wildest dreams."

"Now you're talking," Ember said, turning intangible and flying off.

And then Plasmius' face twisted into a wicked grin. Another, larger figure hovered up behind him, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Why are you going around telling everyone they're your apprentice? It doesn't make any sense, and you're going to get busted sooner or later."

"My dear Skulker," Plasmius said. "If you ever want to rest young Daniel's pelt at the foot of your bed, you will learn TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT."

Skulker glared at him and shook his head. "What exactly are you up to this time, anyway?"

"Oh," said Plasmius, "You'll see. Eventually."

**

* * *

**

Danny, Tucker, and Sam walked together later that evening, leaving the Internet café and heading to their respective homes.

"Well," Sam said, "It's probably just a coincidence. It's not like you have the biggest rogue's gallery, Danny. Two in the same week trying to take something from you isn't that surprising."

Tucker frowned. "The biggest what?"

"You read graphic novels and don't know what a rogue's gallery is?" Danny asked, slightly incredulous.

Tucker blinked. "Well, no…"

Sam shook her head. "Danny's assortment of crazy, evil, and crazily evil villains."

"Them, and the Box Ghost," Danny added, considering that Box Ghost wasn't really evil, or insane.

"Wait," Tucker said, "Danny, are you saying you think there is some evil plot going involving both Spectra and Technus? But they have like nothing in common."

Danny sighed. "It's just a hunch for now. All I know is my dad grounded me for 'losing' the Fenton Bazooka."

"Oooh…" Sam said with a cringe. "What did you tell him?"

"That I dropped it into the Fenton Portal and couldn't find it with the Spectre Speeder."

"Ouch. I bet that went over well," Tucker said. The trio had by this point reached Fenton Works, and Sam and Tucker were preparing to go their separate ways, when Sam cringed.

"Ugh," she said, "What is that noise?"

Tucker's eyes widened. "It sounds like… disco…"

"Oh great," Danny said. "It's coming from inside my own house. Which means my parents are probably relieving their teenage years. Again."

"Yeah," Tucker said. "Well, good luck with that!"

Sam turned and waved her goodbye as well. "Yeah, later dude. I have to go home and fill my earlobes with some death metal to get that blasted beat out of my head."

Sam and Tucker left, leaving Danny to face the horrible audio assault inside. Danny felt like the volume increased ten fold the moment he opened the door, and cringed when he saw his parents dressed in disco outfits dancing—badly—to the music. Which seemed to be coming from a jukebox in the corner that Danny had never seen before.

"Hey, hey!" he shouted. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hi there Danny," his mother said cheerfully. "They had this nice old jukebox on sale at Perfect Purchase today, and your father and I just couldn't resist. It has our favorite high school songs on it."

Jack suddenly hurled himself forward, knocking Maddie out of the way. "Come on, son! Dance to the beat! Do the hustle!" Jack proceeded to do some crazy dance that looked like a combination of the Macarena and a poorly practiced moonwalk.

It was enough to cause Danny to wretch on the inside. "Dad, I was born in the 90s, and even **I** know that isn't the right way to 'do the Hustle'."

"Oh, be a party-pooper like you sister," Jack complained. "See if we care. We're going out to the _R_etroDanceClu_b_ for some fun. Be good kids."

Danny buried his face in his palm and headed upstairs to his room. Surprisingly enough, he found Jazz inside, using his computer, looking up files on ghosts. Specifically, on Ember McLean.

"What are you doing in my room?" Danny asked.

Jazz ignored him and continued reading.

"Hello, Jazz?"

"One minute," Jazz said. "You know, you really need to be more thorough with your files. And would it kill you to use spellcheck?"

"Sorry. Look, I could probably help you better if you told me what you were looking for. And then, you know, got out of my room."

"Something is fishy," Jazz said, "About that jukebox down stairs."

"You think Ember is behind it? Isn't that a bit old-school for her."

"Do you even know when Ember died?"

Danny frowned. "I'm not sure if she's the ghost of a person or some sort of manifestation. What does it matter?"

Jazz looked back at him. "It just seems unlikely to me that our parents would randomly spend $1000 on something not ghost-related. If they wanted to listen to disco that bad, they could have just downloaded the MP3s."

"Aren't you the one who keeps lecturing me on why I should buy the disc."

"I gave up on that when you were twelve, Danny. But that's besides the point. They are acting weird—even for our parents."

"Well, I guess…" Danny started. "Still, a little bit of weirdness with _our folks_ is hardly a good reason to be suspicious."

Suddenly, Danny's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered it.

"Danny," said the voice on the other line, Tucker's. "Something really weird is going on with my parents. They were jamming to the Temptations on some new Jukebox they bought today, and suddenly up and vanished when I stepped out of the room for a moment. The left a note saying they were going to a mock Temptations concert at the concert hall."

Danny glanced at Jazz, the look on her face making it clear she'd heard the conversation from where she was sitting.

"Just a coincidence," Danny said. "It has to…

Suddenly, the house phone rang, and Jazz picked it up.

"Jasmine Fenton speaking," she said. "Oh hey, Sam. Oh, no, that doesn't surprise me. Your parents can afford stuff like that, right? Oh, a jukebox you say?"

Jazz glared pointedly at Danny.

"Uh-huh," Jazz said then. "You think Ember has something to do with it and you want to talk to Danny. I'm repeating your words because Danny is right here but can't hear your end. Yes, yes, I know. Believe it or not, Tucker's parents and ours are acting the same way. Yeah, it does sound like an evil plot, don't you think?"

"FINE!" Danny blurted at last. "I'll go check it out. I know where the club, concert hall, and… where did Sam's parents go?"

"General Patterson Inn," Jazz said. "There's a Beethoven show tonight and Sam's parents 'couldn't wait' to get there despite having not mentioned it at all till today.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you were right," Danny muttered. "Fine. _Going ghost_!"

**

* * *

**

Danny arrived at General Patterson Inn first and immediately knew something was amiss. Nearly a hundred middle-aged and elderly men and women who looked to be of the 'old money' social class were gathering around the concert hall of the inn, filing in one after the other, but none of them seemed to really know why they were there. They were like zombies. Danny flew down, turning invisible and intangible as he swooped through the ceiling and towards the crowd.

There were many more on the inside, ranging from the filthy rich old millionaires to dirt-poor members of the Casper High Mozart club (biggest waste of taxpayer money ever, Danny thought).

"I'm not sure what's worse," he said to himself, "the music, or the smell of old women wearing too much perfume."

Suddenly, his ghost sense went off, and Danny glanced at the stage curtains to see them being drawn back. To his surprise, it wasn't Ember there, but two members of her band. It was the first he'd seen of them since they'd vanished after Danny's first battle with their lead singer.

But oddly, rather than their former punk-rocker garb, they were immaculately groomed and dressed in expensive-looking tuxedos.

But as the recital began, it quickly became clear their new clothes weren't the sign of a new leaf being turned over. Everyone in the audience sat silently, staring as the duo somehow imitated an entire orchestra with only a flute and a violin—using some sort of ghost power, no doubt.

Then, everyone, without provocation, began chanting.

"Ember McLean! Ember McLean!"

"Wow, I guess it only works if you like the style of music this time," Danny thought out loud "Otherwise Sam would be a mindless drone here too."

The ghosts obviously heard the noise and glanced up where Danny was hovering. Danny, realizing he'd blown his cover, phased back into sight and formed a ball of ectoplasmic energy in his hand.

"Sorry guys," Danny said, "but this recital has been cancelled."

Danny blasted the stage, causing wood fragments to explode all over the stage, and sending the two band-members scattering. Danny flew up through the ceiling as the two pursued him, and his last sight was all of the audience suddenly being snapped out of their stupor…

Atop the roof, Violin darted towards Danny, swinging the now-flaming instrument as a club, and bashed Danny backwards towards Flute, who used his instrument as a dagger, trying to stab Danny in the chest. But Danny shot up and blasted Flute with a beam to the face, and his body quickly dissipated.

"That was almost too easy," Danny commented, before being smashed in the back by the flaming violin.

"As I said," Danny repeated. "_Almost_." Thrusting both hands forward, Danny created a ball of energy and caused it to explode out into a shotgun style blast, tearing through Violin like tissue.

The ghost dissipated as well, and Danny took a moment to survey the area before blasting off towards the next area—the concert hall …

**

* * *

**

Danny repeated the process at the concert hall with two more members of Ember's band, and they had given him even less trouble since he had been smart enough to take out their instruments first. Unfortunately the lead singer (who, Danny had to admit, put on a very good impression of David Ruffin) had begun to use his microphone as a flail against Danny, bonking him over the head and wrapping him up in the cord.

But an ecto-plasmic shield at point-blank range had been enough to destroy the ghost and the microphone cord.

So, Danny finally got to the disco club little the worse for wear. It made perfect sense that Ember herself would be the one here, and that it would be his parents that ended up with her. She hated adults, and it was unlikely there were any adults she'd hate more than those who sired her archenemy.

Danny just hoped he wasn't too late.

**

* * *

**

Jazz Fenton sat back in the easy chair in the den at Fentonworks, kicking herself for her promise not to interfere with Danny's ghost activities. Something seemed fishy about everything. It seemed more like a trap for Danny than an evil plot. What could she want with adults this time? The airship had been wrecked (and Jazz regretted ever falling for such a horrible plan back then) and Ember hadn't really tried anything major since then.

Then it had occurred to her that with only one Fenton in the house, the place was totally vulnerable to attack by any ghost that wanted in, and since the ghost shield would only draw attention to herself, Jazz opted to leave it off and act as the house's defender… If she could handle Dark Danny and Spectra, surely she could handle Ember…

So, as she sat and read her book, she had the Fenton Peeler and the Jack of Nine-Tails at her side, just in case.

**

* * *

**

Danny burst into the disco club to the sight of hundreds of men and women who would have been teens in the 70s dancing badly as disco music blared loudly in the background…

But no Ember. The source of the music was a sound system in the corner, complete with a ghostly DJ that paid Danny no mind at all. Nor did any of the patrons of the club… So, Danny decided, he would have to make them notice him.

Danny fired a beam at the ceiling, immediately drawing attention to himself.

"Everybody, get out now! You're being controlled by ghost-music!"

The adults all stared at him, but didn't move. "Danny Phantom!" several gasped.

"Is he here to hurt us or what?" asked a man nearby.

"He's a hero… Why did he blast the roof?" said another.

"That DJ is a specter come back from beyond the grave to control you!" Danny said, pointing towards the DJ booth in the corner…

To find it empty. Nuts! The ghost had fled the scene of the crime.

Suddenly, Jack Fenton stepped forward, dragging Maddie with him, and pulled a small pistol from his pocket that looked like something from 1930s sci-fi, and fired a green beam at Danny. "You'll never get away from us, ghost!"

Danny dodged to the side and blasted back, intentionally missing his father. "I'm trying to help!"

Unfortunately, his mother and her ninth degree black belt had the next word in the argument, as Maddie leapt forward and knocked Danny out of the air with a Specter Deflector-enhanced kick, then drew her double-edged beam-sword and ran at Danny…

There was no hint at all in her movements she was under any form of mind control…

"And if they're not under a spell. Ember's not here…! Then… Oh no… Jazz!" Danny turned and ran from his mother, blasting out of the roof intangible and making a bee-line back towards his house… He had been so stupid! He just hoped he wasn't too late…

**

* * *

**

Jazz had no idea anything was amiss until a massively loud crash in the basement alerted her to an intruder. She immediately grabbed her two weapons and headed down stairs, hoping it was just Danny being clumsy…

But when she got there, it became clear this wasn't the case. Ember McLean lay on the floor, surrounded by and partly covered in a pile of junk that had been growing in the corner since Danny and Jack both insisted it was the other's job to clean the lab up.

Ember glared at Jazz as soon as she entered the room and threw her head forward, sending a plume of her flaming hair at Jazz. Jazz dived out of the way and activated the Fenton Peeler, encasing her body in metal armor. She fired twice at Ember, who dodged the bursts and kicked Jazz in the head, knocking her backwards. Jazz thrust forward her Jack of Nine Tails, but Ember materialized her guitar and blocked the attack, then blasted forward and turned her fist intangible. Then she reached through the armor and punched Jazz in the face, sending her flying backwards. Jazz grunted loudly as she hit the wall, but quickly fired again… and missed, as Ember dodged the beam again.

"Sorry," Ember said, "but this song is getting old. Maybe you should just retire early. Pull a Garth Brooks and release a new album—a few years later!" As she said the final word, Ember jammed a power cord on her guitar, sending a stream of ghost music that pushed Jazz harder against the wall, then ceased.

Ember turned and looked across the ground, obviously searching for something among the junk and gadgets. Jazz finally noticed that the rest of the lab had been quietly ransacked while she was reading. Curse the addictive adventures of the Ultimate X-Men!

Ember turned around, ignoring Jazz long enough for Jazz to formulate an idea. She glanced to her side and saw the switch to turn on the ghost shield, and smirked. Then she reached over and flipped the switch down, causing the egg-shaped barrier to surround the entire house with ghost-repelling energy…

"What did you do!" Ember shouted, turning around.

Jazz was already moving. She set maximum intangibility on her Fenton Peeler and blasted it an angle at the ground..

Ember gasped, then stupidly looked at the floor like a deer in the headlights a split second before the reflected beam came out of the ground in a concentrated burst that knocked the punk-rocker off her feet and sent her flying back towards the console. Jazz dived forward towards her father's ghost-claw gadget—she couldn't remember its official Fenton Name—and hurled it forward at Ember…

It struck her foe in the gut, impaling her inward and causing her to double over…

Then Ember's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you. This is exactly what I was looking for." She pulled the claw out of her stomach, grimacing from the pain and frowning as some green ecto-blood leaked from the wound. Then she looked back up at Jazz, then smiled wickedly. "_Ciao." _

Ember repeated Jazz's reflection trick, but instead of aiming at Jazz, the beam she shot through the ground bounced up and hit the Ghost Shield lever, knocking back into the off position and breaking the lever so that Jazz couldn't turn it back on.

Then Ember vanished through the ceiling, and Jazz shouted a mild expletive. She'd gotten away, and taken something from them. Jazz had failed…

**

* * *

**

Danny arrived only shortly after Ember had gone, but it was too late. Danny agreed to take half the heat from their father for the lab being a mess if Jazz would vouch that they had both been there the whole night—meaning of course Danny Fenton couldn't be Danny Phantom, an idea that Jack and Maddie would never entertain anyway.

Either way, it was officially a pattern now. Either Danny's enemies were working together… or they were working for someone.

Danny had a pretty good idea of who that someone was.

**

* * *

**

Back in Master's Castle, Ember hovered closer, the Ghost Gauntlet wrapped in a brown bag and angled so that it wouldn't poke her should the claws activate accidentally.

Vlad, no longer transformed into Plasmius, entered the room just as Ember did, a smile on this face. It was a cruel smile that actually unnerved even Ember…

"Here," she said. "I got your stupid gauntlet, now where's my reward?" She handed him the device.

Vlad shook his head. "My dear Amber, you'll never be popular again with that attitude." Vlad opened the present and examined the gauntlet, apparently satisfied with its condition.

"My name's not Amber," she barked.

"If you wish to be popular again, you'll learn to straighten up," Vlad said, as he strapped the gauntlet onto his arm… He paused for a moment, as if there had been a veiled threat in his words and Ember had just missed it. Then he continued. "But of course, I guess you'll never be popular again. Not if you can't sing anymore."

Ember's eyes widened. "I can sing just fine, Plasmius. What's with all the creepy Gestapo crap? It sounds like you're starting to believe your own hype."

"Perhaps I do," Vlad said. "And perhaps… you should too."

Suddenly and without warning, Vlad's arm snapped forward, the gauntlet's claws tearing into Ember's throat. Her eyes grew wide with betrayal, fear, and anger, and then began to well up with tears of pain and rage.

Then Vlad pulled out the Ghost Gauntlet, Ember's vocal cords now held in his tightly clutched fist. "My dear," he said. "The first rule of being a good villain is this: never violate your own principles. You don't trust living adults or ghost adults. Why trust those who walk in both worlds?"

Ember clutched her throat, trying to scratch out one simple word: Why?

She couldn't quite produce it, but Vlad understood her meaning, and glared back at her, staring into her hurt eyes. "Because dear, I _can_. You may understand some day. Thank you for your help, Amber… And good night."

Vlad extended his hand towards the girl, formed an energy blast in his palm, and fired.


End file.
